


We'll Figure It Out Somehow

by SmolGooDragon



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Blood and Injury, Dehydration, Established Relationship, Heat Stroke, Hurt/Comfort, Lance's family - Freeform, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pre-Relationship, Scars, Whump, gun mention
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-18
Updated: 2017-10-27
Packaged: 2018-11-02 03:03:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10935642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SmolGooDragon/pseuds/SmolGooDragon
Summary: Although destiny brought them together, it didn't exactly provide a manual or a guidebook.Sometimes blindly working to figure everything out is all they can do, but at least they've got each other.(compilation of Klance oneshots for Klance Week 2017)





	1. Free Will vs. Fate

**Author's Note:**

> This first one ended up being a lot longer than planned, oops. I'd have preferred more time to edit it, but 1. writing with a cold is a nightmare and 2. I gotta get working on day 2.  
> (Warnings in this first one for descriptions of blood/gore kinds of things, you know the drill)
> 
> Enjoy!

No.  
No. No, no, no.

His armored boots clack rapidly against the cold, hard, dimly-lit floor of the ship. His sword is held out at his side like an extension of his arm as he sprints through the hall, his breaths short and tense.  
“Hang on! I’m almost there!” Keith barks. He can hear the others scrambling to get the situation under control, can hear them all clamoring to converge on the location of their downed fellow paladin.

Keith knows he’s the closest, though. He’ll make it there first.

He’s really only half-listening to the others at this point. There’s only one voice he’s desperate to hear right now… not that he ever thought he would look forward to hearing that voice.

And when a quivering, raspy- but so so recognizable- voice finally picks up on the comm system, Keith groans in relief.  
“Ha… You guys miss me that much, huh?”  
A delighted, unanimous uproar washes over Keith’s ears. Pidge, Hunk, Shiro, Allura, Coran… At the sound of Lance’s voice- speaking a coherent sentence, no less- everyone begins talking at the same time, utterly thrilled with the knowledge that yes, Lance is alive.   
Keith lets out a breathy chuckle, but he continues to run.  
“Lance,” he finally calls, as soon as the chatter begins to die down, “I’m almost at your location. Hang in there for just another minute.”  
There’s a long- agonizingly long- pause before he gets a reply.  
“Yeah- Yeah, just take your time.”  
A low, disturbingly wet-sounding cough rattles in Keith’s ear, causing him to flinch.  
“...A. Actually, on second thought maybe hurry, thanks-”

Keith briefly squeezes his eyes shut as his legs continue to furiously pump.  
Great. Just great.

As he rounds the corner of the hall, he almost trips over a large… something. He comes to a screeching halt, his arm instantly flicking his blade forward at the potential threat.  
A startled, high-pitched squeak causes him to quickly pull his sword back to his side, and he quickly drops to his knees beside whom he now recognizes to be his fellow paladin.  
Lance is sprawled out on the floor, his back propped up against the wall. One hand is firmly grasping his rifle, while the other is tightly clutched to his side.  
Lance had tensed upon Keith’s arrival, but now he slumps, groaning as he leans heavily against the wall. He lowers his own bayard.  
“Agh… Dude, don’t scare me like that…”  
Keith lets out an amused huff before speaking into the comm system. “I’m with Lance, but I’ll need help carrying him out of here.”  
Lance grunts in protest at the various noises of agreement he can hear via his helmet. “Oh, please, I don’t need to be carried outta here.”  
Keith ignores him, glancing over at Lance’s slumped form tentatively. “Where’d you get shot?” He pauses before gesturing at Lance’s side, where the blue paladin’s hand is clutched tight. “There?”  
“No, I got shot in the face. Yes, there.”  
Keith rolls his eyes but frowns at Lance’s side. Although Lance’s hand is covering the wound, he can see that there’s a slowly-growing wet spot on the black fabric around where the blue paladin had been shot. It’s a bit hard to see, but if there’s as much blood pooled around the wound as he thinks there is… they don’t exactly have all the time in the world.  
“Lance,” Keith asks firmly, “Where’s the soldier that shot you?”  
Lance blinks before shakily lifting his bayard to point directly down the hall.  
Keith squints before letting out a low, surprised whistle. The drone is collapsed at a long distance away- several yards, at least. If the thing hadn’t been a robot, Lance would have easily gotten the drop on his target. 

As it were, however, Lance had been unlucky enough to run into a drone with a long-range rifle and a pretty decent targeting system.

Lance hums at Keith’s reaction. “Managed to shoot it quick enough that I threw off its aim… ‘cause I’m a badass like that.”  
The red paladin snorts before hesitantly hovering his hand over Lance’s side- over Lance’s trembling hand pressed to his own wound.  
“...Let me see it.”  
“I’ll show you mine if you show me yours.” Lance gives Keith a shit-eating grin, but it’s clear that he’s struggling to keep up his strength. He pauses before lifting his hand away, wincing as the wound meets open air.

Keith can feel his gut clench at the sight.

There’s a gaping, burnt hole in the more vulnerable black fabric of Lance’s armor, exposing his right side. It’s completely soaked red with blood, but most of the skin appears to be badly burnt- it must have been cauterized the second Lance had been shot, the heat of the laser blast sealing the wound (mostly) shut. Unfortunately, given the depth of the wound and how Lance must have collapsed after being shot, parts of the fragile, singed skin had reopened and were now weeping blood.  
Keith curses quietly to himself.  
This wasn’t good. At all. The cauterization would buy Lance more time, but getting a hole punched in his side wasn’t exactly what Keith would call ‘great’.  
“So,” Lance interrupts Keith’s train of thought as he covers the wound once more, flinching as he places pressure against the wound. “What’s the verdict, doc?”  
Keith’s brows furrow. “We have some time, as long as you’re careful not to open that wound up any more than it already is.”  
Lance pauses before humming softly and nodding, allowing his eyes to close. “Mm, good…”  
The red paladin’s eyes narrow. He reaches over and lightly smacks Lance’s cheek with the back of his hand.  
Lance hisses in protest as his eyes flutter back open. “Ugh, Keith, what gives…?”  
“You need to stay awake,” Keith admonishes firmly, “I’m gonna try to help you up, but you have to work with me here.”  
Lance huffs, staring up at the ceiling as he attempts to muster up the slowly-draining remains of his strength. “Fiiiine.”  
Keith rolls his eyes before adjusting his position to Lance’s uninjured left side. “Lean forward a little, if you can.”  
“‘Lance do this, Lance do that’,” Lance mutters under his breath, but he complies- though it’s almost obvious that the movement forward is agonizing for the blue paladin. His side throbs and aches like it’s still on fire, and it isn’t exactly the most comfortable experience he’s ever had.  
“Good,” Keith mumbles, mostly to himself, before reaching forward. He hooks his arm around Lance’s back, careful to avoid touching Lance’s injured right side.  
Lance eyes Keith before smirking. “You know, usually people at least have dinner together before they get all touchy-”  
“Lance. Shut up.”  
There’s a pause as Keith frowns, trying to evaluate how to proceed next. Lance pouts, but the devious look returns to his eyes in an instant.  
“...I mean we’ve had dinner together before, but space goo hardly counts as-”  
“Lance.”  
“Ugh. Killjoy.”

Keith glares at the wall. Of course Lance would choose now of all times to be difficult.  
Although he supposes that Lance being a pain was better than the alternative.

Keith hesitates before sheathing his bayard into his armor with a brief flash of light. He would need both hands for this.  
“Alright, I’m gonna lift you up. Hold on tight.”  
Lance makes a noise of agreement before somewhat reluctantly sheathing his own bayard. He slings his arm over Keith’s shoulders and grips onto the armor firmly. “Ready.”  
Keith nods affirmatively, slowly getting to his feet and hauling Lance up with him.  
Lance makes a choked, pained noise, his legs unsteady beneath him. Keith winces- both out of sympathy and because he was starting to fall backwards with Lance’s weight.  
“Lance-” Keith hisses through his teeth, struggling to stay upright.  
“Ggh… Sorry, sorry, on it-”

A few moments of unsteady wobbling later and Lance is safely propped up against Keith, panting heavily against the shorter paladin’s neck.  
“Wow, we actually did it,” Lance wheezes, grimacing and squeezing his eyes shut.  
Keith grunts in agreement, exhaling before speaking into his helmet. “Guys, ETA?”  
“I’ll be there in like ten minutes, max!” Hunk says quickly. Keith thinks he hears the powerful blasting of Hunk’s bayard over the comms.  
Shiro’s voice pipes up next, sounding extremely apologetic. “Sorry, but Pidge and I are… kind of dealing with our own problems right now. We’re still in the control room-”  
“-And this Galra tech is being a piece of shit,” Pidge growls irritatedly.  
“Language,” Shiro scolds, though it’s really more of a habit than anything, at this point. “Keith, do you think you and Hunk can manage to get Lance off the ship?”  
“Yeah.” Keith glances at Lance’s pale face, and his lips draw into a thin line. “I think we can do that, yeah. Just need Iceman here to stay with me.”  
Lance breathes in-out, in-out against Keith’s neck for a few more seconds before opening his eyes and squinting. “...Did you just make an eighties Spider-Man reference.”  
Shiro snorts quietly. “Alright. Pidge and I should be finishing this up soon, just… be careful. And keep an eye out.”  
Keith ignores Lance in favor of making a noise of agreement. “Will do. You guys do the same.”  
With that taken care of, Keith sighs quietly before beginning to slowly guide Lance forward into a walk, careful not to jostle him around too much.   
There’s a long moment of silence as they both focus on staying balanced, but Lance eventually speaks up. “How’d you guys even know I got shot?”  
“The sound of laser blasts and then you screaming was a pretty good indication.”  
Lance puffs up indignantly. “I did not scream. I just… gasped. A little.”  
“That was a pretty high-pitched gasp, if you ask me.”  
“Well, I didn’t ask y-”   
Lance stumbles, nearly dragging Keith down with him. It takes all of Keith’s effort not to collapse, but he manages to haul Lance up into a steadier position.   
“Hh… my bad,” Lance mumbles, briefly closing his eyes again and resting against Keith’s shoulder even more heavily. “Not feeling so great.”  
Keith winces at that. “It’s okay. Just focus on walking, alright?”  
“Yeah… Yeah. Working on it.”  
There’s another, slightly more awkward pause as they continue their agonizingly-slow march down the hall. However, as the two go along, it’s clear that Lance’s energy is draining- and, in turn, making it even more difficult for Keith to support him. 

It’s in the middle of Keith’s mental cursing over Lance’s height and general gangliness- and, grudgingly, his own lack of height- when Lance completely goes slack.   
His head lolls against Keith’s shoulder, and he grimaces as his legs wobble dangerously. “Ah, quiznak…”  
Keith nearly topples over at the sudden imbalance, but he grits his teeth and uses his free hand in order to slowly ease both himself and Lance to the floor. He doubts that he can just carry Lance’s dead weight around by himself, and if he has to drag Lance along, it’ll probably worsen the blue paladin’s wounded side. He settles into a kneeling position once more, gently lowering Lance to rest flat on his back.  
“Lance?”  
Lance frowns, blinking blearily up at Keith. “Ah- I’m fine, I just... feel really tired. Sorry.”  
Keith bites his lip, glancing up and down the hallway to check if there are any Galra soldiers or drones nearby. Satisfied that they’re in the clear for now, he shakes his head. “It’s okay. At least we covered a little ground while we could. And Hunk should be here soon to help me get you out of here.”  
“Mmhmmm,” Lance hums quietly, his eyelids drooping. “Just keep an eye out, like Shiro said…”  
Keith scowls, lightly patting Lance’s cheek with the back of his hand. “You still have to stay awake, Lance.”  
Lance whines at that, shooing Keith’s hand away with his free hand. 

It would almost be amusing, minus the facts that they’re stuck on an enemy ship and Lance currently has a semi-bleeding hole burnt in his side.

“Hunk?” Keith calls into the comms, his brows tightly-knit with concern. “You almost here yet?”  
There’s a slight fizzle of static, but then Hunk’s voice pipes up, loud and clear. “Yeah, just a minute! Had to take care of some sentries, but I’m almost there. Lance, hang on, buddy!”  
Lance blinks tiredly before smiling. “Will do, bud. I’m looking forward to being rescued by my knight in yellow armor.”  
Hunk snorts. “As usual. See you in a bit, guys!”  
Keith waits until Hunk stops talking before he lets out a sigh. He feels better knowing that Hunk will be arriving shortly, but he doubts he’ll be able to relax until they’re all back on the castle and Lance is safe in a healing pod.

And then he glances back down at the blue paladin, frowning once more as he notes that Lance’s eyes are half-lidded. He lightly pats Lance’s cheek again.  
“C’mon, Lance. Stay awake.”  
This time, Lance doesn’t protest… but his eyes don’t open any further.  
“Lance. You can’t sleep yet. C’mon.”  
Lance grunts quietly. “Feel kinda dizzy.”  
“Well, you can’t sleep now. Wait until we get you into a lion, at least.”  
“Keith,” Lance mumbles. “You don’t have to worry so much, dude.”  
“I’m not worried. You just need to stay awake, otherwise Hunk is gonna kill me.”  
“Mmm.”  
There’s a brief pause before the corners of Lance’s lips tug upwards into  a faint smile. “I’m gonna be fine. Magical paladin destiny and stuff, right? ‘M not gonna die anytime soon.”

Keith sputters at Lance’s remark, fumbling for words. “What- Lance, that’s not- you still have to stay awake-”

Lance’s smile grows a little bit in response…

And then his eyes close.

Keith scowls, patting Lance’s cheek. “No. No, no, no. Wake up.”  
He doesn’t get an answer.  
Keith grits his teeth, patting harder. “Open your eyes, asshole.”  
Still nothing.  
Keith growls in frustration before quickly removing his helmet and shifting so that his ear is right next to Lance’s slightly-parted lips. After a moment of silence, he huffs in relief, moving his head away and placing his helmet back on.

He’s just unconscious. It’s fine. We still have time.

Despite that thought, he can’t help but wait anxiously for Hunk. To distract himself, he pulls his bayard from his armor and activates it, squeezing the sword’s grip. Better to have it out, just in case.

When Keith finally catches a glimpse of yellow and white armor as Hunk sprints towards them, he exhales heavily in relief. Then he starts hoisting Lance up, even more relieved the second Hunk makes it over to them and helps him to lift up the blue paladin.  
After a moment of brief panic on Hunk’s end- Keith has to assure him that yes, Lance is just unconscious, but also yes, we need to hurry- the two make their way down the hallway with Lance slung between them. 

He wants to pretend he’s not afraid.  
Lance is going to be fine, and everything is going to turn out alright.

He just wishes that the little stab of fear twisted into his gut would get the memo.

\---

When they get Lance on-board the castle, Coran and Allura are already prepared to get Lance into a healing pod, having been briefed by Keith and Hunk over the comm system. Keith can only watch anxiously as Lance’s weight is finally taken from him- supporting Lance’s unconscious body had been a hard task, but he suddenly finds himself missing the familiar pressure against his shoulder, the warm breaths against his neck that let him know Lance was still holding on. 

He helps set Lance on a medical table, and he notes that Lance’s skin is far too pale.  
He assists the others in removing Lance’s armor, and he notes that Lance’s chest is still rising- but it’s very shallow.

After what feels like an eternity of preparation, he helps Hunk with getting Lance situated in a pod. The second he’s settled in, Keith steps back and watches, entranced, as the pod seals itself and a haze of cryogenic mist immediately ghosts over Lance’s body.  
It’s not the first time he’s seen it happen, but it doesn’t make it any easier.  
Keith stands and watches, dead-silent for a few moments, before jolting as a hand rests on his shoulder. He quickly turns his head, glancing up at Coran.  
The older Altean hums, watching Lance’s pod. He absentmindedly twirls his mustache with his free hand, squeezing Keith’s shoulder with the other.  
“He’s going to be alright, I can tell you that much.”  
Keith blinks before nodding mutely, returning his gaze to the pod. “...Yeah.”

Allura and Coran eventually leave the room. Shiro and Pidge have made it into their lions and are almost back to the castle, so the two Alteans have to prepare for a wormhole jump as soon as possible.

As Keith and Hunk silently keep watch over the blue paladin, Keith feels his shoulders slump.

Lance really was going to be okay.

Although he’s never been a big believer in fate, or destiny, or that they were all suddenly immune to death because of their ‘magical paladin destinies’, Keith can’t help but think about Lance’s earlier statement.  
They had gotten lucky this time, but…

Was it fate or luck that had allowed Lance to survive to see another day?

Either way, he doesn’t exactly feel like testing the theory out.

He’s just grateful that everything had turned out alright in the end.


	2. Sacrifice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here's day 2, Sacrifice! I'm proud that I managed to whip this all out over the span of a couple hours, despite the fact that my cold has been trying to kill me all day. Just a warning for anyone with emetophobia, there are a few instances of dehydration-induced vomiting in this chapter.  
> Enjoy!

It all began with a lie.

Well, technically speaking, it had begun with Keith and Lance crash-landing on a planet, in the middle of a desert.  
Which the natives hadn’t exactly appreciated. They wouldn’t accept either paladin’s apologies and pleas for forgiveness, and the two had been dragged off to a prison cell made of carved desert rocks.  
It had been hot and miserable, especially since the natives had forcibly removed the paladins’ armor, leaving them with only their black bodysuits… but they’d been doing well enough.

And then Lance had gotten sick.

So Keith’s lie was justified, he’d reasoned with himself. It would only be for a little while, just until Lance got better.

“I already drank. Here, you can have the rest.”

It wasn’t exactly a lie, per se. He’d taken a few sips from the precious water flask they’d been given for the day, but he knew that the small flask of water could only keep one human semi-hydrated for a day.  
Lance looks a little better by nightfall. He’s stopped throwing up so much, and his fever has gone down just a little- not by much, but it’s a start.

So Keith lies again.

And again.

After the first day, Keith gets a throbbing headache that just doesn’t go away. At all. His mouth is dry and his throat aches for water, but it’s not enough to dissuade him from giving Lance most of their water ration.

After the second day, Keith feels overheated. He’s sweating a little, but it’s not much, relatively speaking. His head pounds with a vengeance and his throat is basically screaming that he’s being an idiot. His tongue feels dry in his mouth, and his lips are irritatingly chapped.

After another day, Lance’s temperature is almost completely back to normal. He’s tired and a little weak on his feet, but otherwise mostly alright.  
Keith, on the other hand, has gotten worse.  
He drinks more water than he has been, but he still refuses to drink too much. Lance is still recovering, and he’ll be fine, he argues to his protesting body. Just one more day.

Keith starts throwing up later that night.  
Lance finally catches onto what Keith has been doing for the past few days, and he’s certainly upset about it, but it’s a little hard to get on his fellow paladin’s case in between puking sessions.

The next day is even hotter than the previous days. Judging from passing conversations made by the current rotation of guards, summer is beginning to hit its peak on the desert planet. Although Lance forces Keith to drink more water, Keith just throws up most of it. He’s got a raging fever at this point, and that, coupled with the sweltering heat, make him sorely regret not taking at least a few more sips of water over the past few days. 

Lance won’t say it, but he’s terrified that Keith is going to die.

The last thing Keith remembers is his stomach briefly pausing its nausea as he begins to grow drowsy and heavy- so, so heavy- and his head feels hot, and he should be sweating but there’s so little water in his body to spare, and he feels so sleepy, and-

It only feels like he’s blinked, but he must’ve been out for longer than he thought. When he comes to, his stomach feels hideous and his brain is positively trying to ram itself into his skull as hard as it can, but the overwhelming heat is gone. The sounds of oh-so-familiar whirring and humming fill the air, and he’s almost delighted to note that he’s inside one of the lions.

It’s not Red, though. That puts a slight damper on his enthusiasm- the nausea isn’t helping either- but he’s in a lion regardless. He has just enough time to recognize that Hunk is piloting- he thinks, anyways- and someone’s holding him in their lap.

Correction: Lance is holding Keith in his lap.

Keith is a bit surprised at the development, but his thoughts are scattered and hard to grasp, so he gives up on trying to think too hard about it.

A few minutes later, he tries not to think too hard about how he just threw up on Lance. He tries to apologize, he really does, but he doubts that very many coherent words are coming from his mouth at the moment. Lance doesn’t make any noises of disgust or protest like Keith expects- instead, Lance assures Keith that it’s alright, that he’s been friends with Hunk for a while, that he’s used to it by now (Hunk solemnly confirms that statement), and that it wasn’t even that bad anyways since Keith really didn’t have anything to throw up but a tiny amount of bile in the first place.

The red paladin finds himself bewildered at the entire situation once again- why is Lance being so nice, it’s just not normal at all- but he sinks into a dazed half-sleep as Hunk navigates them back to the castle.

The next few hours are a blur for Keith. He practically melts with comfort as he snuggles with a thin blanket in the air-conditioned castle, and Coran has him take a spoonful of a clear, tasteless, watery gel every ten minutes (“It’s like water, but chock-full of minerals and electrolytes to get you back up and running in no time!”).

Keith still finds it almost disturbingly odd that Lance doesn’t leave his side- he only went up to his room once to change out of his filthy bodysuit before coming back down to sit with Keith. Coran makes Lance eat the odd gel, too, but he recovers much more quickly than Keith does.  
But eventually, after a long while, Keith is almost back to normal. Still lethargic, certainly, but at least he’s not throwing up anymore, and he’s even able to stomach a little food goo before he makes his way to his own room for the night.  
He sighs quietly in relief as he opens the door, his gaze immediately darting to the bed. After a few days of being trapped in an uncomfortable, rocky prison cell, the pillow and blankets awaiting him look like they’ve been sent from heaven.  
Keith is about to step into the room when a familiar voice startles him, and his head turns to glance over at the blue paladin.  
“You nearly got yourself killed, you idiot.”  
Keith blinks before scowling. He opens his mouth to retort, but Lance speaks up again.  
“...But you saved my life, too, so. Thanks.” His arms are crossed and his gaze is trained solidly on the floor, refusing to meet Keith’s eyes. “You had me really worried back there, though. If you’d just… I dunno, talked to me or something, we could have maybe rationed the water out between the both of us so that you wouldn’t have gotten so sick.”  
Lance pauses before frowning and finally looking up, locking his gaze with Keith’s. “I know you lied to make me drink more so I could get better, but, just… Try not to lie to me unless you have to in the future, okay? We’re part of a team now, so we need to look out for each other. It’s not just a one-sided thing, so let me help next time.”

Keith stares dumbly at Lance, something akin to bewilderment flickering across his face before he slowly opens his mouth to reply.  
“Uh… Yeah. Yeah, I’ll…”  
He takes a second to clear his throat in embarrassment before speaking up again. “I’m sorry I made you worry. I’ll try not to lie to you next time.”

Lance seems at least somewhat relieved at Keith’s words, his shoulders relaxing a bit.  
“Thanks, bud. Just remember that we’re both in this together, yeah?”  
Keith briefly tenses as Lance suddenly moves in closer and claps his hand on Keith’s shoulder. He thinks he’s imagining it, but it feels like Lance’s hand lingers for a moment before he finally pulls away, turning to head for his own room.  
Keith is left in the hall to stare at Lance’s back as the blue paladin finally ducks out of sight, retreating into his room. After a minute, he blinks, shaking his head and scowling at the warmth in his cheeks.

It’s just a side effect of being dehydrated, that’s all.

As Keith enters his room and the door slides shut behind him, he flops on the bed and kicks off his boots, lost in thought.  
Sure, what he’d done was reckless. He really should’ve been a little more responsible about his own health before it was too late. He should’ve talked to Lance, should’ve done something-

But, somehow, Keith doesn’t feel a single shred of regret.  
If he had to do it all over again, he doubts that he would change a thing.


	3. Scars

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> //cough   
> WELL it's been quite some time since I last posted, and it's bothering me that I never finished this fic due to severe illness and procrastination and college, so even though it's definitely no longer Klance Week, I'm gonna do my best to actually finish this darn thing.   
> Up for this chapter is Day 3: Scars!

Lance is busy fiddling with his hair- the one piece just /refuses/ to go down, dammit- when he notices Keith slinking into the room.

He leans back on the couch to get a better look at the red paladin, eyeing him appraisingly before returning back to his normal sitting position.

“Sooo, did Shiro kick you out of the training room again?”

Instead of a verbal answer, Keith plunks down on the couch near Lance with a loud huff.

“Ahhhh, yep. Thought so. Dude, you really need to stop overexerting yourself or you’re gonna make the rest of Shiro’s hair go white.”

Keith scowls. “I wasn’t ‘overexerting’ myself.”

Lance raises an eyebrow, shooting the red paladin a skeptical look.

“...I set the gladiator at level nine,” Keith finally mutters.

Lance winces, hissing through his teeth.

“Geez, are you _trying_ to get your arm broken again? How bad did it rough you up this time?”

Keith glances off to the side, sulking. “Not too badly. Shiro intervened pretty quickly.”

“And then gave you the safety lecture, I assume?”

The red paladin clicks his tongue and rolls his eyes, leaning back into the couch. “Yep.”

Lance snorts, also leaning back. “Well, got any plans now that you’re grounded from the training room?”

Somehow, Keith’s sulk manages to get even sulkier. “No.”

There’s a fairly long moment of silence, with Lance trying to figure out something to do, or say, before he pauses and eyes Keith. “...What’s that on your arm?”

Keith blinks, looking down towards where Lance is pointing. A crisscross of thin, white scars cover his wrists and forearms- small and hard to see at a distance, but very noticeable up close. The red paladin pauses before coughing awkwardly. “Just… Those are from a while ago. It was stupid.”

Lance grins, leaning in closer. “Oooo, do I sense a scar story incoming?”

Keith blinks, looking rather confused. “Why do you want to know about them so badly?”

“Uh, because scar stories are fun? I know plenty of ‘em.”

Keith frowns. “It’s… a dumb thing that happened when I was a kid, not really a story.”

“Ah, but Keith,” Lance raises his index finger, giving the red paladin a wry smile. “The dumb-incident-scars from childhood are the best kind. Besides, it can’t be dumber than the thing that happened to give me my scars.” With that, he proudly holds his hand out to Keith, using his free hand to point at a few scar lines on the joints of his fingers. Keith raises an eyebrow.

“...What happened?”

“Wellllll,” Lance drawls, straightening up into prime storytelling/gossip mode. “See, when I was eight years old, my parents were off working and I was home alone with my brother and my friend. And we were all kiiinda dumb kids, y’know, so. We decided to do a little ‘science experiment’. Aka, we wanted to see what would happen if we took a blowtorch to a bullet.”

Keith’s eyes widen at that, both eyebrows darting up. “You didn’t.”

Lance snorts. “Oh, yes. We _did_. And, uh, well.” He coughs. “It didn’t go very well. So here I am, holding this bullet in my hand, and my older brother’s blowtorching it. Aaaaand then it exploded, and the shrapnel got shot into my fingers.”

Keith hisses sympathetically. “Ow.”

Lance’s grin gets even bigger. “Oh but wait, that’s not even the best part. So I’m over here just gushing blood everywhere, and my brother is calling the hospital, and my friend is just… freaking out. He gets the phone and calls my mom’s work- gets told to leave a message and all that. And he literally says- I kid you not- ‘please tell her that her son has been shot’ and then he _hangs up_.”

Keith can’t resist the mortified, half-gasp, half-laugh that escapes his lips. “No.”

“ _Yes_. So my mom gets the message and she’s driving her old, little car at top speed down the highway, pulls up to the house and _loses her mind_ because our house is surrounded by police cars and an ambulance, and then rushes inside. She sees me slumped on the couch, and- mind you, I had touched my head with my bleeding hand, _so the side of my head is covered in dried blood_ , and my brother and my friend and I are all chatting with a police officer.”

Lance clicks his tongue and gazes off to the side. “Leeeet’s just say she didn’t take it well. I’ve hardly ever seen her that mad, eugh. But anyways, yeah- the scars are where the doctors had to surgically remove the shrapnel embedded in my skin.”

Keith blinks in disbelief- with a trace of sheer awe- before quietly laughing. “That’s… wow.”

Lance gives him a smug smirk. “I know, right? I’ve got tons of other stories like that one, too.”

The red paladin snorts, a small smile on his face. “I… don’t have many stories like that.” He then indicates the scars along his arms. “These were just from a stray cat I found, when I was about seven. He was dirty, so. I tried to give him a bath in the tub.” He stares at the wall, slowly squinting and wincing in remembrance. “He had very sharp claws.”

Lance snorts, a giggle escaping his lips. “Ohhhh my god. Ouch.”

Keith shrugs. “Well, I’ve never repeated that mistake ever again, at least... And, uh. You mentioned more scar stories like that one?”

The blue paladin grins, leaning back and spreading his hands. “Ohhhhh boy, I have _tons_. My family is crazy, man. So anyways, there was this one time I was at the skating rink with my older sister…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please shoot me a comment if you enjoyed this chapter/if you're enjoying the work so far! Thanks for reading.~ If you want a heads-up as to my other writing projects, want to ask me questions and such, or scream with me about fandoms, check out my Tumblr at smolgoodragon!
> 
> And no, these scar stories were not made up; they were based on my dad's... interesting... childhood!   
> He has shrapnel scars AND scars from trying to bathe a cat. Along with several other scars. Fun little bit of trivia for y'all.


	4. Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Several years after the war is over, Lance finally gets to return home. Nervous about how his family will react, if they're even still living at his old house at all, he decides to bring Keith along for moral support.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After another long wait, I present to you the fourth chapter of this story! This idea was very hard for me to write, but I'm fairly satisfied with how it came out- and I hope you enjoy it, too!  
> (Note: I don't speak Spanish and I imitated the way of writing Spanish used in this chapter from a local Latinx author. If you notice any mistakes, please feel free to correct me!)

**Chapter 4: Home**

 

It’s been a long time, that much he knew. How long, or… well, anything else, really? That, he doesn’t know.

 

Lance takes a deep breath as he stares up the winding path ahead, leading to an old, large house. It’s rundown and looks even older than the last time he had seen it. It’s humble, and a little dingy, but.

It’s his home.

He cradles his helmet in one hand, anxiously rubbing the smooth surface with his free hand.

“Do you think they’ll… they’ll still be here…?”

Keith quietly shrugs. “Maybe, maybe not. We’ll find them eventually either way, but. Ah… Are you really sure you’re alright with me coming with you? They’re  _ your _ family, not mine. They might not… appreciate…”

Lance quickly nods. “Yeah. Yeah, they’d be okay with you being here, dude. I mean, after all, you’re technically family now, so.”

He pauses.

“And I really don’t want to do this alone. It’s been… a really long time.”

Keith nods, unsure of what to say. “...Yeah.”

Lance takes another deep breath to compose himself before straightening, his face set in determination. “Well, we’re not finding out anything by just standing around here, are we? Let’s get going.”

And with that, he begins to march forward, taking the path one step at a time as Keith follows a few feet behind him.

Keith frowns, a bit uneasy. He doesn’t know these people at all, and he’s really never been good at interacting with new people. He really does hope that he doesn’t come off as too cold or aloof- he’s been working on his social interaction skills for the past who-knows-how-long (after all, he  _ is _ a paladin of Voltron- he has to have  _ some  _ tact to negotiate with other species), but it’s still not his forte.

Plus, this is Lance’s family. He needs to make a good impression, even if he doesn’t know them, or how they’ll react, or- well. He only knows a few things about them from scattered stories over the years from Lance.

 

And, just like that, the two paladins are standing on the scuffed porch, next to a rickety-looking bench and what appears to be a carved bear ornament, watching them with sightless, curious eyes.

 

Time seems to stop.

Lance hesitates, but he manages to knock on the door.

 

A moment of silence, long enough to make the paladin worry that nobody was home, but then-

“ _ Mamaaaaa! There’s someone at the doooooor! _ ”

Lance blinks, frowning. He doesn’t recognize that child’s voice, but maybe… 

He can hear footsteps approaching, and his heart hammers in his chest, fluttering, pulling at his heartstrings in anticipation and worry.

 

The door opens.

 

Keith peers around Lance’s shoulder curiously, catching sight of a portly woman- older, judging from the gray streaks running through her wavy, brunette hair- and blinks as the woman’s jaw practically drops, stammering like she’s seen a ghost.

“Is… Is that… L-Lan… Lance…  ¿ _ Erus t _ _ ú _ ?!”

Lance stiffens, his lower lip quivering dangerously. “H-hi,  _ mama _ … Heh, I’m. I’m back-!”

He’s cut off as she lunges forward, her arms wrapping tightly around his back and pulling him into a bear hug. She buries her face against his shoulder, sobbing loudly, clutching at him in desperation as if afraid that, if she lets go or loses sight of him, he’ll vanish into thin air. “Lance-! Oh,  _ hijo _ ,  _ mi hijo _ \- We thought you would never come home, that- that you were-!”

Lance starts to tear up, his voice cracking as he speaks. “It’s- I’m home,  _ mama _ , I’m so sorry, I had to go, I wish I-I had gotten a chance to… to tell you first,  _ lo siento m-mucho _ -”

The woman takes a deep, shuddering breath, tears still streaming down her face. “Oh, Lance… Lance, I…” She suddenly lifts her head from his shoulder, a shaky grin on her face as she yells back into the house. “Luis! Jacqueline! Lance is home!  _ Lance en casa! _ ”

She squeezes her son even tighter, another sob of joy wracking her body. 

 

Keith can only awkwardly look on as, one by one, more and more people filter from the door, all swarming around Lance, awed and emotional. It’s not that he’s not happy for Lance, he  _ is _ , but he’s not used to so many people, all crowded together and loud and… he doesn’t know any of them. He thinks the girl about Lance’s height is the sister he mentioned, Jacqueline. He thinks the man clutching Lance is his father. Maybe.

He rubs his arm, a faint smile on his face. At least Lance looks happy. Well, happy is a complete and utter understatement. He looks  _ thrilled _ . Everyone is crying tears of joy in the confused family huddle, but Lance is especially so, and he’s  _ beaming _ .

It takes a long while of Lance consoling several people at once when everyone slowly begins to calm down and ask “where the hell were you” (“Jacqueline, not in front of Benji!”), “what the heck are you wearing”, “why were you gone for so long”, “why do you have a scar across your face”, and, finally, “who is that boy standing behind you?”

Lance chuckles nervously at the onslaught of questions, managing to herd his family (and Keith) into the house and towards the living room.

(“It’s a long story- I mean technically I’m a war veteran now-”

“The scar’s an even longer story and I shouldn’t say it in front of the kids- oh  _ wow _ , Benji, you’ve gotten so  _ tall _ , li’l guy! Bet you hardly even remember me,  _ ¡Dios mío! _ ”

“This is Keith, uh- he’s my teammate, also kinda sorta my boyfrien- NO, I didn’t run away to be with him, sheesh- yes, yes, I know you accept me, I wouldn’t run away ‘cause of that-”)

 

After Lance had finally managed to settle his family down, he explained the details of where he’d been for… apparently, the last eight years. Keith occasionally interjected (Lance still had a tendency for embellishment and a flair for the dramatic), but otherwise remained quiet. There were several points in the story where someone would interrupt Lance to ask questions, or at least look at him doubtfully- not that Lance blamed any of them. It sounded crazy and far-fetched coming out of his mouth, that he had helped to save the  _ universe _ in an intergalactic space war while flying in a giant mechanical lion and working alongside two aliens in a massive castle-ship, but they handled it surprisingly well. 

Quite blown away and alarmed by the end of the story, but pretty well, he’d say. It also helps to prove his point when he finally takes his family out into the field where the regal figure of the blue lion stands tall, seemingly surveying the land.

 

He’s especially delighted to see that his family embraces Keith with open arms, potentially realizing the fact that the other paladin had saved Lance’s life many, many times. The rest of the day is practically a giant celebration, with his mother insisting she go out to the store to buy groceries (“Ah, I have to make your  _ favorite _ , just you wait!”), making up for lost time by catching up with his family, and pulling Keith in to join the excitement. Although Keith is a bit hesitant to interact with Lance’s family, he soon gets along with them quite well, even if he can’t understand half of the Spanish they’re speaking or if they get a little  _ too  _ excited and loud.

The day practically flies by, and that night, Lance can hardly sleep as he’s curled up in his bed, in his old room. The only major difference is that Keith is snuggled up against his side (completely exhausted), so he tries not to fidget too much.

 

He’d almost given up hope on seeing this place again, seeing his family. But here he was, covered up in his favorite blankets and surrounded by the familiar scent of home.

Lance closes his eyes, exhaling softly in disbelief.

 

It wasn’t all the same, no. He’d… he’d be lying if he said that he hadn’t come back here as a changed person. A real man, now, one who had helped put a stop to a reign of tyranny and save the universe. 

He’d seen horrible things, and wonderful things. Things that no other human had ever seen before, and he kind of doubts any mortal being should have had to witness some such things.

He’s scarred- all of them are, really- both physically and mentally. At least the slash marks on his upper arms look cool, but he’ll try to avoid showing those bad boys off for now, lest it give his poor mother a heart attack.

 

They couldn’t stay here forever, either. The universe still needed them- after all, you can’t just break apart a tyrannical empire spanning across thousands of galaxies, an empire built over the course of ten-thousand years, in a matter of less than a decade. He honestly wonders if they’ll ever be able to ‘retire’; saving the universe is a full-time job, and he doubts the effects of Zarkon’s rule will just vanish anytime soon.

 

He takes a deep breath, slightly opening his eyes as he snuggles a little closer to Keith.

 

_ We’ll figure it all out, in time. _

 

_ But for now… I’m home. _


End file.
